– it's in YOUR hands

Forgive, but don’t forget

One very important thing when it comes to making your life better and in general feeling better about yourself, is forgiveness. In order to feel free, to release your past and to feel more light-hearted, you must forgive.

Most of us have been through hard times and have experienced things that hurt us. And often these trials are caused by someone. Not always, but most times, I’d say.

The reason you need to forgive is actually most of all for your own sake. You see, the only one suffering from the fact that you’re holding a grudge against someone else, is you. The other person probably don’t care or might not even know.

To be able to move on after being hurt or after a difficult passage in life, you must accept what happened in the past (however far or close) and let it go. It will do you no good to hold a grudge or be angry with someone. All that’s going to do is build anger inside of you. Eventually you’ll just be filled with that grudge, that anger, maybe even hatred.

And who wants to live like that?

So forgive and let go. Accept things as they are. It’s OK, it will not make you a weak person, it will only make you stronger!

It took me years to forgive things that happened in my life. I honestly thought I’d never be able to forgive. But when I realized I had to, in order to be totally free to live my life, I took the steps – baby steps – and I eventually did it. I forgave the people that hurt me the most, and that had hurt me my entire life. And guess what? It felt really good.

With that said, forgiving didn’t mean that I forgot. I don’t believe in the saying forgive and forget. Because whatever it is that you’ve been through, you will have learnt something from it. That’s why there’s no point in forgetting. Instead, embrace your life lessons. Any situation that you come out of as a stronger person, is worth it.

What I’ve been through has shaped me into who I am, and I am proud of who I am. That’s why I’m not forgetting. But nowadays, it’s not upsetting me – it’s not making me sad or angry, or even making me feel anything at all, actually. I’ve made peace with the past in order to embrace the now and the future.

You should do that, too.

Sit down with yourself and your own thoughts. Sort through. What baggage do you carry? How heavy is it? Why is it so heavy? And what can you do to lighten the burden? What is the first step?

The first step is all you need to be aware of. Remember, baby steps. It will take time, I can promise you that. But it is worth every second it’s going to take.